


Trade Mistakes

by c3childs



Category: Avatar: The Last Airbender
Genre: Adventure, Gen, Pre-Canon, to the library!
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2012-06-22
Updated: 2012-06-22
Packaged: 2017-11-08 08:15:27
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 503
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/441107
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/c3childs/pseuds/c3childs
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Zhao had some help finding the library.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Trade Mistakes

Prince Pouty and Uncle Creepy were not her first Fire Nation clients. Years ago, a soldier had slunk into her tavern wearing a hooded cloak and sat at her table uninvited.  Pretentious sideburns and haughty eyes.

“I don’t like your face.”

His features pulled into a fierce scowl. She was about to begin ignoring him when he plopped a jingly bag on the table.

“Do you like being paid?”

“I don’t work for copper pieces.”

He slipped his hand in and came out with golden hands.

“So when would you like to leave?” she smiled.

oOo

His name was Lieutenant Zhao, and he wanted her to find a library.

It wasn’t her weirdest job.

The Library was owned and operated by an owl spirit who had foxes delivering stolen literature and could swallow Nyla whole

Somehow not the weirdest.

It had demanded offerings from them, and she’d given it a scroll written by an old monk from the Eastern Air Islands. Zhao had given it a map of the world with the conquered areas marked. It had allowed them in and swept into the air, leaving one of the foxes as a guide.

Then Zhao had asked the fox to show him where information about the moon was.

oOo

June wandered around the Library, occasionally pulling a tome off the shelf and feeling increasing bored. Her job consisted of finding things, not a taxi service. However, she had an annoying amount of human decency and leaving the man alone in the middle of a desert didn’t sit well with her. So she wandered, and the foxes started following her after she started complaining aloud, then, while climbing a winding staircase, paused.

Leaning down to the rail, she examined the intricate work, the gentle moldings. Feeling a little light-headed, she sank onto a step. The rail was gold with veins of silver.

“I need to write a book or something.”

oOo

“Are you done yet?”

“…”

“Hello? Zhao!”

“Go away, woman. This is more important than you can imagine.”

“We’ve been here for days. You haven’t left this room. I’m  _bored_.”

“Find some way to amuse yourself.”

“Already have. The foxes won’t come near me now.”

_ Sigh _  “A few more hours then.”

oOo

A few hours more, June, curled up in chair, awoke to the smell of smoke in the air. Seconds after that, something screamed angry and loud, echoing through the halls. Fire shot down one of the aisles, and Zhao ran by her, grabbing her arm and dragging her. Singed feathers floated around them as an angry, snapping beak descended on them. Zhao let her go long enough to shoot a huge jet of fire at the owl, tagging his wing and setting a stack of books ablaze. With an anguished cry, it wheeled out of the air, diving for its precious, burning collection.

Free from pursuit, the two sprinted for the entrance, climbed out, and collapsed into the sand. Smoke curled into the air from the windows. June frowned.

“What just happened?”


End file.
